World champion Wout Van Aert is back from training in Spain and ready to tackle the upcoming UCI World Cup races in Namur and Zolder, but first he`ll start this weekend with the DVV Verzekeringen Trofee-Scheldecross on Saturday in Antwerp. Van Aert joined other top cyclo-cross riders at the end of November on a short training trip to Spain, spending his time in the warm weather in Calpe and dialling in his form before the calendar picks up speed. `The break has done me good,` Van Aert told nieuwsblad.be. `I`ve been able to follow my schedule as perfectly as I`d hoped. The sensations on the bike were good, and my climbing`s been getting better. I`ve also been able to get plenty of rest, including on a mental level. With the extra-sporting worries I`ve had in the past few months, I needed it.`ADVERTISEMENT Cyclingnews reported last month that although the UCI gave Van Aert permission to seek a new road team for 2019 after his bitter split from Veranda´s Willems-Crelan, the governing body may still take action against him should he lose the legal case against his former team in the Belgian courts. The time in Spain was a chance to refocus his mind on racing after an autumn full of difficulty. Van Aert is following the same path as last season, when he returned from a break and finished second to rival Mathieu van der Poel in Antwerp, then took the win at the World Cup in Namur the following weekend and again a week later at Waaslandcross. He went on to win the cyclo-cross World Championships in Valkenburg. `I`m hoping for a similar scenario, although things have been pretty different for me this year,` Van Aert told nieuwsblad.be. `I was hoping to be more consistent this year, but obviously a number of things happened that prevented me from reaching my hoped-for level. Although I`ve still been on the podium a lot, people don`t remember that. A fresh start? It makes little sense to say that the season really starts for me now - that`s crazy. I just hope that I ...
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